Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q brings unique flavor to downtown Tuscaloosa

By Margaret ClevengerTuscaloosa Magazine

Monday

Sep 24, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Barbecue and football go hand in hand in the South. Before the first cleated foot ever kicks the ball from the tee, grills are fired up to welcome in the new season. Tailgating around campus is a tradition almost as old as the game itself, and with a new barbeque restaurant in Tuscaloosa, pulling together that before-the-game feast has been simplified.

Barbecue and football go hand in hand in the South. Before the first cleated foot ever kicks the ball from the tee, grills are fired up to welcome in the new season. Tailgating around campus is a tradition almost as old as the game itself, and with a new barbeque restaurant in Tuscaloosa, pulling together that before-the-game feast has been simplified. Jim ‘N Nick's opened a dine-in restaurant in downtown Tuscaloosa in May, but also offers catering and tailgating services. “You will be able to get amazing food set up and delivered to you; all you have to do is eat,” says Sarah Halliday, the restaurant's relationship ambassador. Jim Pihakis and his son, Nick, opened their first Jim ‘N Nick's in Birmingham in 1985, a store that remains open today. The Tuscaloosa restaurant is one of 29 in the chain now found in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. “Jim passed away in 2000, but Nick is very much involved in every single store,” Halliday says. “He lives in Birmingham and pops into each store, making sure that everyone is maintaining the Jim ‘N Nick's way.” That way includes making everything fresh from scratch. “We have no freezers in our stores, only coolers,” Halliday says. “Everything is made from scratch that morning. We don't make in bulk so that it sits all day. We make smaller portions and we make them more often throughout the day. So everything that's coming out of our smoker, or off of our grill, or off of our skillets, is going directly onto a plate or out the window of our drive-thru.” The restaurant is not solely about football Saturdays, of course. Open seven days a week with sit-down lunch and dinner, as well as a full bar, the restaurant has found a home in the former Turner & Schoel Sheet Metal Works building. The 1940s building had been vacant for years when Jim ‘N Nick's moved in May 15. Preserving the charm of the historic structure was essential to owner Paul Liollio, who has been with the restaurant chain for 13 years. “The building itself has a significant historic value to the community,” Liollio says. “Our intent was to keep it intact so people could identify with different aspects of the architecture. It's fun to walk around and talk to people who have a story to tell about the building. There is an iron track or iron girder that runs through the middle that still has a pulley attached to it that I was told was used to pull heavy equipment across the room. It's still there.” So are the concrete floors and the red brick walls. Blending nicely with the old features are the new copper pendant lights that are suspended from lengthy poles hanging from the tall ceiling. Red vinyl booths line one side, while wood tables and chairs fill the rest of the spacious dining room. Vintage photographs hang on the walls and flying metal pigs in various colors lend a whimsical air to the casual eatery. Both types of artwork are found in all the Jim ‘N Nick's restaurants.But it is the cooked-to-perfection food that keeps customers returning, like the fork-tender pulled pork that has spent 14 hours steeping in hickory smoke before it is heaped upon a customer's plate. Or the fall-off-the-bone-tender baby back ribs. The Tuscaloosa menu also offers fried and barbecued chicken, smoked turkey, beef brisket, steak, and catfish. Trimmings include Mac the Cheese, a tender elbow macaroni side dish, golden brown on top and held together with delicious gooey cheese. The collards are slow-cooked and the onion rings are handbreaded. The cinnamon apples have just the right touch of sweetness. Jim ‘N Nick's creamy cole slaw was featured in Bon Appetit magazine. A basket of the restaurant's signature cheese biscuits is placed on each table to whet the appetite as diners await their orders. The biscuit made the Alabama Department of Tourism's list of 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die, and Saveur magazine named the cheese biscuits the “Tastiest Birmingham export since Emmylou Harris.” High praise, indeed, but oh so deserved. The small round biscuits are tender delights containing bountiful, chewy bits of cheddar cheese. And the little biscuit has gathered quite a loyal following.“There seems to be a sort of cottage industry trying to figure out the true recipe of the Jim ‘N Nick's cheese biscuits,” Liollio says. (Liollio reveals there is no corn meal in the recipe, contrary to a theory that has been put forth.) “If I'm having a difficult day, I'll go online and read what people are saying about them. People have interesting dialogue about the different ways they are trying to duplicate the biscuits. I think they are having fun with it.” With such high interest in the product, the restaurant now offers the prepackaged biscuit mix both in the store and online.Pie is what's for dessert at the restaurant. Lemon icebox, chocolate creme, coconut creme and southern pecan pie are always on the menu. On occasion, banana creme pie is offered. “We make our own pies, from crust to topping, from the recipes of Ms. Mable Washington,” Liollio says. “She is a friend of the family who works in Birmingham at the Oxmoor location. These are recipes that have been handed down for generations.” Ongoing specials each week include Taco Tuesday, when the restaurant offers barbecue pork wrapped in a flour tortilla. Other versions of the Southern-style below-the-border staple feature chicken, beef brisket and fried catfish. Diners can wash it down with $1.99 Mexican beer or an icy cold $3 margarita. The Wednesday special is barbecue pork and grits, with $2 off glasses of wine. Liollio credits much of the success of Jim ‘N Nick's restaurants to the passion for serving the freshest food possible. “We, as a company, support the family-farming industry,” Liollio says, “and we support the Southern Foodways Alliance. That's a consortium of foodies that is helping protect the history of the southern culture.” Locally, the restaurant has partnered with Katie Farms, run by Jon and Margaret Purcell, in Coker. Depending upon the season, Liollio expects the farm to provide the restaurant with collard greens, green tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes and corn. In keeping with the desire for freshness, Nick Pihakis has recently purchased a plant in Eva, Ala., for processing the company's pork. “He has developed a special breed of hog and is currently in the process of seeking out farmers that want to produce this hog,” Liollio says. “The flavor profile is something that he is trying to develop in order to offer it once or twice a week in all of his restaurants. Everything has grown out of the passion for fresh, fresh, fresh. “We are excited to be in the community of Tuscaloosa,” Liollio says. “I am a longtime fan of the University. I sort of met ‘Bear' Bryant way back in the day when he ate in my father's restaurant.” Liollio's was a seafood and steak restaurant the family owned in Pensacola. It was where Paul Liollio learned the business, helping out in whatever way he could. “I was really young and so I was terrified,” Liollio says of meeting the legendary coach. “But my dad really enjoyed having him visit the restaurant.” Joe Namath also spent time at the Florida restaurant. “It was right after he signed his big NFL contract,” Liollio says. “It was Broadway Joe and it was a lot of fun. He was a good guy and we enjoyed having him. He was always pleasant, always polite.”

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